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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I can’t believe it is the last week of March! So thankful for all of the signs of spring we are seeing! Next week the legislature will be on our Easter/Passover break, so I will not be sending an update.
I am looking forward to having a little extra time with my family before the sprint to the end of the legislative session. This is a time of renewal and hope and I am thankful for the hopeful signs we are seeing that the pandemic is coming to an end. I wish you all a blessed Easter and Passover season!
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Executive Summary
- PPP press conference
- More mandates on businesses
- Summer school
- Local media at MSHL state tournaments
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PPP press conference
It was my honor to join two local women-owned businesses to call for the House to immediatly take up a bill to eliminate the state tax on PPP loans and supplemental federal Unemployment Insurance benefits on Thursday. Mandy and Terri shared the potentially devastating effects for their businesses if the House does act quickly to provide this tax relief. Both had to make tremendous sacrifices in order to keep their doors open and their employees on during the shutdown and months of operating at reduced capacity.
Mandy, the owner of Minisota Play Cafe in Maple Grove, totally shifted her business model after children's play spaces had to close. She started selling coffee and sensory bins to-go so she could keep her workers employed. Terri was able to keep her 11 employees at her marketing firm, even though her clients’ needs drastically changed. Mandy and Terri both relied on PPP loans in order to keep their workers employed and cover their overhead expenses. If we do not pass this conformity, both will be faced with expensive, complicated state tax bills.
As a reminder, business owners who took the PPP loans were required to spend all of the money on workers and certain operational expenses such as rent and utilities. They were not allowed to set some aside for tax payments and now they are getting hit with a state tax on this money as “income.” The state should not be profiting off the government-ordered closures that necessitated the loans in the first place. The federal government has already said the PPP loan money should not be taxed at the federal level. Minnesota needs to “conform” to this provision and not require state tax payments on these loans.
House Republicans have moved several times to bring PPP legislation to the floor, but every time we have been blocked. Government needs to be helping small business, not profiting off of them (more on that below.)
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More mandates on businesses
On Thursday, the House voted on several bills which would have put onerous new mandates on business, even though parts of the economy are still not open at 100%. While some of the ideas in these bills have merit, the language of the bills was far too broad and would have had serious unintended consequences.
HF 7 would create sweeping changes to Minnesota's current laws regarding employee leave. It did not include most of the employer protections that are under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act and it would apply to all Minnesota employers, regardless of the number of employees they have. It also has problems with the definition of "earned sick and safe time" and very expansive definitions of "family member" and "retaliatory personnel action." Perhaps most concerning for me, HF 7 would create greater employer liability, making them liable for consequential damages.
HF 39 mandates the legally questionable rehire and retention protections on private employers for laid-off hospitality and hospitality-related employees during a declared emergency. As we know, the hospitality industry has been hit the hardest during COVID-19.
This bill requires employers of any size to rehire any worker they laid-off after January 31, 2020. The bill requires employers to continue to offer any positions workers are qualified for, anywhere in their organization, not just their old job, in their old location. They must continue to offer any job that opens up to everyone who qualifies, even if a worker has already turned down an offer to return to work, until December 31, 2022.
HF 39 threatens Minnesota's "at-will" employment laws, as well as placing very difficult record-keeping and tracking mandates on employers. I pointed out some of the flaws in this bill on the floor here.
HF 403 is an attempt to close the wage gap between men and women. We know that, on average, women make $0.70 for every $1 a man makes. I support the intention of this bill to address the wage gap, but the language was far too broad and it created a “rebuttable presumption” that the employer was guilty, which unnecessary shifts the burden of proof from the plaintiff to the defendant.
I support the idea that an employer should not require an applicant to disclose their previous salary and I think if the bill had simply done that, it would have passed unanimously.
This bill, however, would prohibit an employer from asking about or “considering” information “from any source” on the applicant’s pay history. This broad language, combined with shifting the burden of proof to the employer and very high fines, made it impossible for me to support the bill. I raised these same concerns about this bill last session and in Committee this year. I am hoping the author will work with Members to narrowly tailor the bill so it can eventually pass.
Minnesota's employers are seeing significant increases in mandates and taxes. They have sacrificed so much during Gov. Walz's shutdowns. Employers need flexibility, not more burdensome regulations and taxes. Instead of passing these bills, which are likely to die in the Senate, we should be solving problems that help our businesses begin to recover, such as passing the PPP and UI tax relief now.
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Summer school
On Tuesday the House voted on a bill that was supposed to help fund summer school so kids who need to make-up ground lost during distance-learning can get back on track. I fully support summer school and have advocated for getting money directly to schools quickly so they can begin to plan for classes, teachers, transportation, etc.
Unfortunately, the bill passed by the House Majority did not really address the needs of students.
- Of the $107 million in the bill, only $29 million went directly to K-12 summer programming. An additional $26 million went to schools for summer pre-K and pre-college classes for high school graduates.
- An additional $51 million went to the MN Dept. of Education (MDE) for grants that they will set the criteria for and make the decisions on how to distribute. Another $1 million went to MDE for administrative costs.
We offered multiple amendments to improve the bill and get more money directly to schools, rather than making them go through additional hoops by applying at the Dept. of Education for grants. The most important amendment would have given money directly to schools for in-person K-12 summer school aid. This amendment ensured that all students received the same amount of per-pupil aid, rather than different districts receiving different amounts.
In looking at the “runs” of what each district would get under these proposals, our school districts did much better under the amendment, which gave an increase of +$86/student to all districts throughout the state. Unfortunately, the amendment failed and what did pass gives our districts much less:
- Anoka-Hennepin: +$33/student; amendment was +$86/student
- Osseo-Maple Grove: +$26/student; amendment was +$86/student
- Elk River-Rogers: +$48/student; amendment was $86/student
As a point of reference, Minneapolis gets +$68/student, which is significantly higher than what our students receive. Minneapolis students, however, would have still fared better with our amendment, where every school got +$86/pupil.
Although I strongly support summer school funding, I voted against the bill when our amendments failed. The Legislature must do more to give money directly to schools and give them more flexibility to spend the money to meet the needs in their districts. We should give equal amounts per student for summer school funding. All students were impacted by distance learning and all deserve the same funding for summer school options.
Although Gov. Walz recently said that 90% of school districts and charters are providing some form of in-person learning, that number needs to be examined more carefully. According to MDE's Learning Plan Dashboard, 40% of MN school districts/charters are in-person, which should be at least 4 or 5 days per week; 11% are hybrid, meaning at least two days a week; and 40% are combination, which means the elementary grades might be in-person, middle school hybrid, and high school still distance learning.
It is clear that there are serious repercussions for students not being in the classroom with their teachers and friends. That is why summer learning is going to be so essential this year.
We offered a plan to help kids get caught up after a year of distance or hybrid learning and gave the money directly to schools on an equal per-pupil basis. Our students, not the Dept. of Education, should be prioritized with this funding. I spoke against this bill on the House floor which you can watch here.
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Local media at MSHL state tournaments
My colleagues and I are urging the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) to allow local reporters into state tournaments to cover their teams. Because of current COVID restrictions, local media is not being allowed inside the venues. The pandemic has also put strict limits in place for spectators, so family and friends are not able to cheer on their teams. Local papers are the only way for communities to learn about the progress of their teams in these big tournaments if they are unable to participate in person.
High school sports are so important, not just for the students and families involved, but also for the wider community. Allowing local reporters to attend MSHSL events would make a huge difference in making sure our communities can share in the joys, and sorrows, of playing in these important tournaments.
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Photos
Press conference with small business owners urging the passage of PPP conformity.
I attended a meeting with the I-94 West Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday morning! So nice to see everyone in person!
Happy National Puppy Day! I celebrated the day by meeting with the Animal Humane Soceity for their virtual day at the Capitol.
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Please Contact Me
Many of you have already been in touch to discuss your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you. Thank you for sharing your ideas! Please continue to contact me to discuss any matters to which I can be of assistance.
During the continuing COVID restrictions, the best way to reach me is by email: rep.kristin.robbins@house.mn. You can also leave a voicemail on my office number, 651-296-7806, which is checked a couple of times/day. I hope you all have a great weekend!
Have a great weekend!
Kristin
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225 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
ph: 651.296.7806 |
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